Playing Dead
by Lies To U
Summary: There's something you should know about us Special Infected. We're not the monsters you make us out to be. We live, we cry, we hunt, we bleed, we fear just like you survivors. Sadly, your guns speak your mind.
1. Bound And Restricted

Yet again, another L4D fic coming from yours truly :P This time with a larger range of Infected!

Each survivor/infected will have a chapter to themselves before they group up again, so expect some boring crap coming at ya. :D

/]/]/] just signifies a page break c:

**:Left 4 Dead/2 and all its glory belong to Valve:**

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><p>Coming here was to set things right.<p>

Fix the problem that's dwelled onto us ever since it happened.

Bring back what was rightfully ours.

How the hell were we suppose to know the Green Flu would surprise-butt-raep the town we traveled to?

/]/]/]

The inhuman shrills screaming behind me motivated my legs to keep running. One of them straining against its movements, a nasty bite wound is to blame for that.

I was tired, out of breath, how much longer to safety? Hell, probably where I was headed to was beyond safe grounds. Maybe I could count my blessings and be finished off quickly by God Knows What?

I acted half mindedly when bursting inside a drug store to my left, the door instantly toppled over by the cannibals screaming for flesh. My flesh to be exact.

I knocked down nearby shelves, hoping to buy me precious seconds of whatever hope I still had from those bloody freaks. I screamed when one of the zombies dodged the petty obstacles and lunged itself at me, grabbing hold of my arm and sinking its crooked teeth in my flesh. I yanked and thrashed against my attacker, smacking him over and over on the head with my melee weapon.

It wasn't till the 6th hit did he release his mouth and got a hard hit across the face by my frying pan (yes, frying pan people. You try to find a baseball bat, fancy katana, or even a rusty pipe when taken by surprise in a food court.) I put all pain calls on hold as I sprinted to a secured room in the gas station.

That secured room turned out to be a bathroom. I immediately locked the door and prayed to God these freaks couldn't break through metal and iron. I backed up from the dirty door, flinching when banging and clawing sounds erupted from the other side of the door. I began to sob, the pain and truth finally settling in as I pressed myself against one of the bathroom stalls. I slid down till I hit the ground, shaking and continuously sobbing as I ran both of my hands through my hair.

This was it then. This is how I am going to die. Get eaten by those bloody meat frenzies or turning into one of them, proof was given to me when seeing a cannibal bite a woman's neck in the food court we were hanging out in earlier.

We.

I clawed my face as I wept louder, what happened to the others? I brought my knees to my face, wrapping my arms around them to keep them still. I shook my head, trying to remember where we split apart when the attack happened.

Ok…Aras went to the bathroom, I didn't see if he ran out like the majority of us did. Katie had to leave early because her parents wanted her to come to the motel before 3, so she's probably somewhere safe. I lost Austin and Liz when taking the side entrance instead of the main, I think he went back 'home', Liz would have most likely followed. Tyler…he was still ordering food, oh God I think he got swallowed in by the horde.

I hissed and wailed at the burning pain in my leg and arm.

Owww…fuck.

I curled my toes and pressed my head against my knees, maybe focusing on something else would make the pain less unbearable?

Tough luck. I screamed and grasped my torso, rocking back and forth as the pain crawled up my legs and abdomen. I bit my lip till I tore skin, sobbing like a stupid baby as I clenched my itchy arm wound. I stared dumb founded at my limbs, I couldn't stop the shaking. I hugged myself tighter.

This isn't happening.

This isn't happening.

This isn't-

I muffled my scream the best I could, a shock ran through my body as bones started to crack and expand. I shook my head again, breathing unevenly as small bumps grew around my arm wound.

Everything felt hot, too hot. My skin, mouth, body, everything. Burning, just burning.

Make it stop!


	2. Skies Open Up

**And the second one is up and running. Yay :D**

**:Left 4 Dead/2 and all its glory belong to Valve:**

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><p>How long has it been since he passed out? Hours? Minutes?<p>

Ah hell, it didn't matter.

Aras groaned as he rolled over, trying to find a more comfortable position to rest on top of a local Wal-Mart. The screams and groans coming from below refused to let the hoodie sleep more peacefully, Aras grew ticked as he sat up and leaned over the ledge.

"Will you SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Aras screeched down to the stumbling Commons down below, none taking recognition to his shout above. The parkourist snarled, dropping his face to a confused pout when hearing that noise.

_Did I just do that? I sounded like an animal._

Aras blinked, finding it painful to shut his eyes completely or let them be, what the hell was irritating his eye? He rubbed his sockets, feeling them become sore and his vision less clear as it was hours ago.

"Well that's weird…" he said, noticing his voice was becoming hoarser, he could hardly understand what he was saying. The thought was discarded with a shake of the head, Aras stood up and patted his jeans free from dirt and dust that clung to the fabric.

_I should probably look for the others, we all got split up when that group of meat frenzies went ballistic._

With a deep breath, Aras took off. His momentum giving him the advantage to soar across the gap between the Wal-Mart and apartment complex not far from it. He tumbled into a roll and quickly got back to his feet, continuously running to wherever.

_Maybe I should head to Dobe's house, they might've fled to there._ Aras growled to himself, feeling slightly disappointed with himself to not look for his friends immediately when he found a safe place to hide. Well, not like it'd make a difference. If he looked for anyone right after he found safe grounds he could've been instantly eaten by the raging cannibals. Or worse get lost in small town Virginia. [/End Hermione reference]

After jumping off a couple rooftops, Aras scanned the area. Dammit, he was just getting more lost. If only he could text or call the Dobe and others to see if they were alright. But thanks to that meat frenzy bastard who tried to jump him in the bathroom, he lost his precious phone when quickly scurrying out the bathroom window.

He was blocking the door, what other option do you got if you want to live?

He looked to his right, seeing another hooded figure pounce across rooftops not far from him. He leaped across a couple buildings till he came in range with the other parkourist. "Oi, buddy," Aras called out, sticking his arm out to cease the leaper's jumps. It worked, the hooded person's hard stomach hit Aras' arm causing the both of them to wobble.

The hoodie snarled, shoving Aras' arm away, displeased at the sudden stop. "Chill, dude. I just wanted to ask you what part of town this is." Aras stated, raising his hands up in defense. The stranger hoodie snarled again, exposing his crooked and bloody teeth, "You a fucking tourist, dipshit? Ah cripes, it doesn't matter…" The parkourist looked about to take off again but got snagged by the arm by Aras.

"Look asshole, I'm just trying to find some friends and you don't have to be a fucking dick about it. You either answer my question or get your arms broken by yours truly," Aras hissed, showing off his own pair of razor-like teeth.

Aras's hold was shaken off, his possible attacker scoffing at his threat. "Friends? They're probably all dead or wandering about looking disgusting like the rest of them down there." The hoodie pointed to the Commons below, all bloodied in some way or another as they stumbled through the streets. "And it shouldn't matter where you are, dumbass. The only thing that you _should_ be concerned about is finding a survivor to chow down on."

Aras gave the parkourist a confused look, he had a point but…

"'Finding a survivor to chow down?' The hell you talking about? Ever heard of going to the nearest McDonalds and grabbing a-"

The hoodie facepalmed and shook his head, crouching down on all fours soon after.

"This is a zombie apocalypse, dumbshit. And you're a fricken Hunter! Act like one for God's sake!"

With that, he pounced away. Aras stood there for a couple minutes before letting it all sink in.

He raised his hand to his eye line, inspecting the bloody fingers that protruded sharper nails at the top. He wanted to take a closer look at how his limbs changed but scratched the idea, knowing the duct tape would be a pain in the ass to tear off and put back on when removing his hoodie. He instead got on all fours like the other parkouist did, debating on the thought and soon coming to an answer.

He crawled two steps forward before leaping through the air, amazed by his own strength as he leapt farther than before. He skidded down the side of a building, quickly jumping off it to gain altitude to a higher level.

He soon enough landed on a rooftop to his liking, surprised at the fact he didn't break any bones from his high and powerful drop. He stood up, feeling the need to get back on all fours strangely. He chuckled to himself, soon laughing loud enough for it to echo and bounce off the building walls.

"A Hunter, huh? I like the sound of that."


	3. She Is A Bad Thing

**Another chapter to this lame fic. Hooray!**

**Now with a mix of sad emo panda!**

**:Left 4 Dead/2 and all its glory belong to Valve:**

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><p>No.<p>

It was too quiet, everything seemed dead. Was dead. Oh God, the blood.

Everywhere.

It's everywhere.

Whose…?

Oh, no.

She couldn't stop shaking, her hitched breath seemed to deafened her ears. Her deformed fingers were coated with blood. She could feel the liquid drip and splash onto the tiny puddles they formed on the ground.

She couldn't scream. It was too late for that. All she found herself doing was standing there, feeling the blood seep beneath her feet as her reflection showed the monster she had become. She shuddered, horrified at herself and the dead corpses that lay on the ground.

Unmoving, lifeless. No, they couldn't be. They-

She slowly bent down, reaching out to the two bodies that were surrounded by a large pool of blood. Her deformed, sharp fingernails made it difficult to gently shake the body whose front had been ripped to shreds. Intestines were split among the red puddle, lungs slashed and heart turned to mush as its remains lay next to the body.

"Mom? Dad?"

Her meek cry was left unanswered, her useless denial caused her to instantly sob. She brought both clawed hands to her face, smearing it of fresh blood that was quickly mixed with tears.

She dropped to her knees, feeling her capris pants instantly soak in whatever blood it was closest to. She rocked back and forth, weeping whatever humanity she still had.

This isn't real. It's not true. Make it go away. Go away!

The sobbing girl removed both hands from her blood stained face, looking down to her clothes to see them also stained with red. Specks and smears coated the fabric, a bloody handprint was on the bottom left of her shirt.

She growled sadly at this, almost screeching as she tried to pull the article of clothing off. Finding it difficult with her deformed hands, she ripped the fabric off. She tore whatever had the slightest red on it, leaving her in her undergarments. She wrapped both arms around herself, trying not to tear skin as she pretended to be hugged by someone else.

She lost count of time when rocking herself and crying her eyes out. She didn't care about the outside world, who cares if it was facing anything worse?

She sniffed and looked up at the hotel window, its curtain splattered with blood as the window behind it glowed. With tears still running, she found the strength to get back on her feet. The bottom of her legs feeling icky as the blood imprinted her pale skin, which mentioned pool of blood is to blame for that.

She continuously wept as she made her way to the hotel door, relieved to find it not completely closed, nudging it with her shoulder to swing it open. The setting sun stung her eyes, causing the Witch to bring her hands back to her face as she stumbled forward.

There was no point to sit at her parent's murder scene. As much as she wanted to sit there and cry for eternity, she had to move forward.

Was there hope? Probably not.

But she felt the need to move forward, whether it be to her death or the possibility of finding someone who'd make this seem all normal and better again.

Could this sadistically twist her future, whatever future she had?

She didn't know.

She didn't care.


	4. Free Or Tied Up?

A terrible garbling noise reached her ears, heay breathing was heard too.

_Can someone shut that bozo up?_

When she started to regain conscious, she realized those noises were coming from _her_.

Elizabeth―much perferred to be called Liz―looked at herself and her surrounding in utter confusion. She was at Austin's house...yes, she remembered running home with him after they were chased. They got indoors, quickly locked and attempted to bar the windows and doors with furniture...then what?

Liz groaned as she brought herself to her feet, throat burning as she felt drool dribble down her neck. Feeling it with disgust, she quickly brought a hand to wipe the saliva off. She alarmed herself when feeling almost no jaw on her mouth and bringing the hand up to eye level, seeing bright, almost neon, greenish yellow sticky stuff cling to her skin. "The fuck!" she asked, quickly wiping it on the side of her jeans, later realising they burned the patch they were wiped upon.

_Well that's just great..._

"Austin? You in here?" she tried to call, her voice not functioning properly by her stinging throat and lack of jaw. She exited the guest bedroom, leaving tiny spots of green forming a trail behind her dripping from her mouth.

She shrieked and backed away, seeing one of the flesh crazies standing in the middle of the hallway. The thing took no recongition of her presence, didn't even turn around as it shuffled forward. Liz relaxed her posture a tad before giving the zombie a strange look.

_Why isn't it attacking? The entire crowd of those things were like animals when chasing Austin and I..._

As she scooted past the Common, taking a glance at its face to see it still unresponsive to her actions, she wandered within the small one floor house in search of her friend.

"Austin! Where are you!" a loud shriek was added at the end of her sentence, the girl caught off guard when hearing it roll out of her mouth like it was natural. With no sign of him indoors, Liz decided to check outside.

Liz flinched when hearing gunfire echo in the distance, wasn't this to be a peace loving town Austin moved to? Then again, a majority of the US itself was lacking the peace loving nature it was cut out to be.

More Commons stumbled across the area, still none attacking or even gesturing to the Spitter like they were before. Not finding the right cordination to run properly, Liz found herself stumbling and almost waddling as she ran around, still searching for her friend.

"Austin! Answer me dammit!" just as Liz finished her sentence, she heard a loud scream not far from where she was. Curious to who it was, she raced to where the sound owner was. She was knocked by a person rushing forward. 'Cept they weren't rushing forward, they were stumbling and bumping into everything. The survivor screamed as the thing riding it's head continously laughed ike it was the end of tomorrow. It clawed the smooth skin it gripped onto as its legs were in a tight grasp around the person's head.

"Get it off! Oh God, get this thing off me!" the survivor screamed, being lead to a different direction as the Jockey leaned in a certain direction.

Liz stared at the show, a small chuckle escaping her slippery jawless mouth. Her stomach suddenly turned, she could feel something starting to roll up her throat. The Spitter groaned as she hacked and spat whatever decided to come up instead of down. A glob of sizzling acid hit the ground where the survivor and Jockey were horsing about, making the survivor do a funny dance with their feet as the acid bruned through their shoes and onto their skin. A couple more screams erupted from the survivor till it fell to the ground, body continously twitching till the acid settled on the ground.

Finding what just happened to be humourous, Liz let out a squeaky laugh. Holding her petruding belly as she doubled over and continously giggled, dripping spit acid dotting the ground below her.

"Liz?"

The Spitter looked to her right, seeing the Jockey who sent the survivor to his dead jitter and crouch by her. She blinked a couple times before spitting a tiny pluck of an acid ball from her mouth ina random direction, "Austin? Is that you?" Despite the torn skin around the leaper's mouth, making him look like he was always smiling a crazy kind, the Jockey looked at Liz with a dissapointed stare.

"Duh, it's me. Look what the hell happened to me!...Look what happened to you!"

Liz chuckled, seeing the once not-bad-looking Austin now hunched over modern, zombified hunchback of notre dam.

"Well, there goes looking normal and for an evac group..." Liz sighed, running her long fingers through her short hair as the Jockey observed their surroundings. "Have you heard from the others?" he asked, continously twitching even as he tried to hold still with all his will power. Liz shook her head, "I just woke up looking like this. Besides, weren't you the one with the phone?"

Austin rolled his eyes, "I ended up breaking it," he paused when seeing Liz's disbelieving look, "In fact, I ended breaking a lot of stuff when I was going through this...change. I think you got the lucky way out since you passed out cold after some of those wackos broke in." Liz gave him a confused stare, "They broke in? Then why aren't we dead? I mean, they would've ripped us limb from limb wouldn't they?" The Jockey shook his head, "It doesn't matter, Liz. We're alive, sorta, we should at least see if the others are ok."

Liz shivered at his words, "The others...no offense but wouldn't they be dead already? Aras is the only one who I'd think have made a lucky break. Gabe or Katie aren't exactly fighting material..." Austin gave Liz a hard stare, debating on which way to go before he scurried to a certain direction. "Alright, you stay or go wherever. I'm going to go look for them."

Liz's eyes widened at this, almost jumping when realization hit her before she scammpered after the Jockey. "Wait! Changed my mind! I'll come with you! Waaaaait!"

/)/)/)

After two hours of looking, the Spitter and Jockey were growing rentless with their search, both having trails of sweat coat their skin and painful hunger growls erupt from their stomach.

"You _sure_ you know where you're going? Cuz I don't think you know where you're going. If you _did_ know where you were going, I'm pretty sure we-"

"Good lord, Liz! I've _lived_ here for about a year now! I know my way around far more than you do. We havn't found anything since we don't know _where_ everyone else is! They could be wandering around the opposite side of town, heading to the nearest evac center, or-"

"Dead?"

"Yes..."

Liz glanced around, seeing nothing out of the norm as a clue to help them find their friends. "Last I checked we had no guns equipped, sooo any gunshots wouldn't be a hint to where they would be, correct?" The Jockey nodded in response, ceasing their conversation for the moment.

"Ugh, Austin I'm getting hungry. Can't we find something to eat?" The Spitter groaned, holding her stomach that never ceased burning. The Jockey leapt up to an oblivoius Common, jumping on its head and instantly snapping its neck. The Common fell to the ground with a loud _thud_, the Jockey jumping off his poor excuse of a ride. He looked at the confused Spitter, "There. Eat."

She stared at the dead Common like it was roadkill before giving Austin a 'you serious?' look. "Uhhmm...I was thinking more something...cooked. Or y'know, _not human._" The Jockey shook his head. "Liz, after the Change, normal food doesn't taste right anymore," catching her frown, he continued, "I'm serious! I tried bread, fruit, even eggs and none it tasted good."

The Spitter's frown deepened, "Didn't you at least try cooked meat? You should have had some leftovers or something, right?" Austin sighed in response, "Look, just try it ok? If it tastes like crap, we'll go to the nearest fast food and see if they still have prepared food lying around."

Pleased with this response, the Spitter knelt down to the dead Common. Its bug-eyed stare caused her to cringe when she met its sight. Hesitantly, she reached for the Commons arm, lifting it up to her lips. She sank her teeth into the flesh, surprised at how easily they slipped into the skin and into muscle. Just what _did_ this transformation give her? She ripped the piece of meat off the arm, feeling slightly sick when remembering this was a piece of human in her mouth. She chewed slowly before swallowing it loudly, hanging whatever remained of her tounge out to expose her 'bleck' feeling.

The Jockey raised an eyebrow, "Taste bad?" Liz wiped the acidic spit and blood from her upper lip and throat, "Ugh, I don't know...after taste tastes horrible." Austin shrugged before cracking his neck, "Well it might taste less good since it's an Infected person. A survivor tastes much better." Liz shot him a glare, "You know this _how_?"

Before the Jockey could reply, weeping reached their ears.

Both Infected turned to the source of the sound, seeing a pale girl stumble in the streets along side some wandering Commons. She released a tiny yelp when tripping on a lying down Common, the zombie grunting but only turning on his side, away from the Witch.

She sniffled before bringing herself back to her feet, about to bring her hands covered in dry blood to her face again. Before she could however, the Jockey squinted and leaned forward from where he was standing, observing the crying girl.

"Ain't that...?"

Liz was about to question her friend but he scamppered to where the Witch was, instantly jumping onto her causing him and thw Witch to fall backwards, "KATIE!"

With that name reaching her ears, the Spitter instantly got up and ran to where Austin glomped the Witch. When she reached both of them, a warm sweep of relief swept through her body. Indeed, there was Katie sniffling, slightly confused as Austin hugged their Witch friend tightly. Liz dropped to her knees to join the hug, "Katie! You're alright!"

The Witch whimpered, gathering the strength to hug her friends back without scratches to prove. "L-Liz...Austin. You're ok, I'm..." she broke into a sob, shivering in her friend's embrace. The two Infected withdrew from their hug, confused to see Katie continously weep even when she slightly smiled. "Katie, what's wrong? We're together now, it's alright!" Austin tried to comfort, placing a hand on the Witch's shoulder.

Katie slightly nodded, but instantly shook her head as she wept louder. "I-I...I killed...m-my..." Liz hugged her friend, muffling the Witch's sobs for a short moment.

"It's alright, Katie. Let it all out...tell us what happened."

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><p><strong>Yaaay! We got them grouping up together now! No more waking up from transformation drabbles anymore :)<strong>

**Next one should be coming up soon for anyone that cares.**

**Review?**


	5. Getting Hold Of Self

Aras couldn't stand this fucking heat. The sun taughting him minutes gone by, beating down on his dark hoodie and pants. Both articles of clothing near to impossible to remove thanks to the sinister duct tape sticking to the cloth. Yes, he could tear it all off, but he knew during his visit in this town that days can drop to 10 degrees in a snap. Knowing the pains of bitter cold nipping his skin was not what the Hunter wanted, deciding to deal with the heated sun for now.

A grumble roared in his stomach, making the Infected frown in disappointment. He really should find something to eat, a survivor sounded tasty to his taste buds. Look over the rooftop he decided to rest on, he saw no gun shooting maniacs or helpless victims surrounded by a horde of Commons. He frowned again, maybe he should kill an Infected to please his appetite? It's not like there were zombie rules, stating Thee Shall Not Attack Thy Zombie Neighbor. Using whatever strength he had left in his eyes, the Hunter scanned the aread below, looking for an Infected to fall as his prey.

During his search/exploration by jumps, he's noticed there were other Specials other than himself and his previous Hunter encounter.

He actually managed to have a small conversation with this one armed Infected. He was a grunt, but still gave Aras the needed information about his where abouts in the town. The Charger, as he called himself, then plummeted through Infected to grab a hold of a near by survivor Aras failed to notice. Seeing the poor victim get beat to his death, Aras made sure he'd never piss off a Charger if ever to come in contact with another one.

There were also some fatties that enjoyed to puke their grossness on survivors, immediately getting swamped by the horde due to its smell. The Hunter never got the pleasure to talk to the Infected, seeing it burst in an explosion soon after a survivor took aim at it.

A couple streets away is where he saw crying chicks that never ceased their wails. He managed to catch a rare sight when a survivor startled a sitting one and instantly got shredded. A good note was placed in his mind to never go near those types of girls.

Another lady Infected was one with a looong neck who spat sizzling green stuff, Aras couldn't image jst how revolting it would be to french one of them chicks. Thus being the reason he hasn't talked to one.

His most terrifying observation was one Infected that was the size of a tank-size gorilla. Its muscle were vein popping and it attacked anything in its way, Infected or not. Aras didn't hang around too long, noticing that those muscle freaks could climb anything the Hunter stood upon.

He later saw some smog Infected people, a majority of the males having tenacle things sprouting from their bump covered shoulders or back of necks. They weren't very polite, at least the ones aras came across weren't. In Aras opinion, they weren't very strong looking either. Not until that long tounge of theirs shot from their mouth and dragged a survivor up to them for killing.

A show to see in this apocolaypse would to be a hunched over critter ride a survivor's head with a dash of laugh in the mix. The Hunter saw a small pack of Jockeys 'ride' a couple survivors to death, an entertaining show, as long as you weren't the survivor.

Back to food hunting, Aras spotted a few Jockeys, a Charger, and a Smoker wandering the streets among the Commons. He debated on which to attack. Those Commons wouldn't be fun to attack, they'd just lay there and take it. The Hunter wanted to have some fun in his kill, wanting it to fight back before meeting its doom.

A Jockey might be a good kill, though looking to be roaming with a pack wasn't going to be easy to kill. A Charger, no way. Aras didn't need to think twice when looking at the one armed Infected. His poor eyesight lingered on the Smoker. Those things were defenseless till they activate their tongue. Even if it did attack before Aras pounce, he'd be sure to slice the appendage before the Infected even knew it.

Nodding to himself, Aras readied himself on the ledge of the rooftop. A low growl vibrated his throat, limbs instantly snapping into place as he lundge forward. A scream escaped his mouth, causing the Smoker to hear the attack and turn to the descending Hunter.

But it was too late, the Smoker didn't even shoot out its tounge as defense.

The two Infected crashed harshly into the ground, more on the Smoker's part. Aras released a predator growl, sinking his claws in the Smoker's shoulder to pin it stuck. The Smoker coughed, a haze surrounded the two as its pores continued to release smog into the atmosphere. The Hunter was about to rip open its neck open, but a smell reached his senses.

He squinted, easing the pressure on his claws just a tad as he took a better look at the Infected beneath him. One good eye locked onto the Hunter's face, fear and anger swirled into the unhealthy pupil as chest rised up and down during its ragged breaths. Aras leaned into the Smoker's hair, burying his nose in the brunnette strands.

This smell...it was too familiar.

Aras withdrew, looking at the Smoker again. It wore a black winter vest–despite the hot weather it was in–with a dirty Gir shirt underneath. Like every other person in the world, it wore washed out jeans and dirty converses.

Making sure he was right, glancing at the chest to see it was indeed formed in a femine way, he shared looks with the Smoker.

"Gabe?"

The Smoker didn't respond, not right away. It coughed and wheezed before narrowing its eye. "Who the fuck are you?"

The voice was enough to clarify it. Aras grinned like a maniac as he hugged his friend in a tight grip, "Oh my god it IS you!" The Smoker gagged, trying to push the hoodie off her and kicking her feet uselessly. "Get off! Who _are_ you?"

The Hunter withdrew from his hug, gripping on her bump covered arms to make sure she didn't get away. She struggled, obviously not wanting to be anywhere near this Hunter. "Gabe it's me! Your brother from another mother Aras! Get your head out of your ass and think for once!" Aras almost shouted, happy yet angry for finding one of his friends, unhappy they were playing dumb with him.

Gabe seethed her teeth in anger, continously glaring at the Hunter who tried acting like her friend. Aras didn't let go, bonking his forehead against the Smoker's making her yelp. "C'mon, girl. Think. Don't let that smoke cloud your mind."

Gabe kept her eyes screwed shut, as if enduring the forehead or attmepting to think straight. The grip she hand on Aras' bisceps slowly let go, she opened her yellow eye to look at the shadowed eyes of the Hunter. "Wha...?" she asked, looking and feeling slightly nauseous at the moment.

Aras shook her a bit, "That's it. Don't back down, c'mon." Gabe brought a hand to her forehead, covering some of the pulsing bumps that coated the skin. "Ar...Aras...Oh, God. Aras!" In that moment the Hunter got hugged tightly in return, Gabe slightly laughing with a meek smile.

"Holy shit, you're alive! Y-You're...Oh my God," Gabe exclaimed, coughing as she felt her friend hug her back. They both exchanged smiles as both withdrew from their hug. "Geezus, thought you totally forgot about me..." Aras laughed, hiding the slightly hurt feel that was crawling in his mind. Gabe shook her head, "I...I couldn't remember anything. Who I was, where or who you guys were...oh shit is this normal?" she raised her bump covered to her and Aras' eyeline fro inspection.

Aras slightly chuckled, gesturing his arms to the area around him, "Is this what you call normal?"

The Smoker small smiled, helped to her feet when the Hunter got up off of her. "Where are the others?" she asked, a few coughs cutting in between one of her words. Aras shrugged, "You're the first I've come across. I've been looking for the others for hours. No luck." Gabe scratched her bump covered neck, careful to not pop one of the air pockets clinging to her skin. "Well, there's no point sticking around here. Let's go find them."

Aras nodded in agreement, thinking to himself before crouching on all fours again, "Kay, get on."

Gabe gave him a strange look, "What?"

He snickered, "It's ok. Trust me."

Giving him a weary look, Gabe gave in and got on Aras' back, wrapping both arms around his neck.

Aras leaned back, building up strength before launching through the air with his signature screech. Gabe yipped, tightening her hold and snapping her legs crossed around his stomach. He smirked, deciding to show off by wall pouncing here and there as they gained altitude.

"Do you know what you're _doing_?" The Smoker shouted, her scream cut short as they landed vigorously on a balcony ledge. The Hunter looked over his shoulder, snerking at the Smoker's reaction when seeing how high they were.

"Babe, I was _born_ for this."

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><p><strong>:<span>IMPORTANT! PLZ READ<span>!:**

**Huzzah, chap 5 is done. Next update might take a while since I come up with this stuff off the bat. Nope, n****othing planned ahead in my brain...for the moment.**

**And after debating for a bit, I decided to make this story open for ocs. It'd make the story longer and interesting :) **

**(Though this story has next to no popularity, so let's see how this turns out.)**

**Leave character description in review or message, either or doesn't matter.**

**Review?**


	6. To The Sound Of A Break Down

The sun was close to setting once Aras and I took a break from our search. Neither of us had this town memorized like the back of our hands, and without the aid of a precious cell phone or nearby sane townsperson, we'll never find our friends as quick as we hoped.

We decided to scavenge an abandoned gas station, seeing if anything worthwhile was looking or snacking for.

"What do you mean you never used that tongue of yours?"

I gave Aras a look that read 'Shut it'. Leave it to him to start a conversation by a slight insult.

Knowing he wouldn't let up until I replied, I sighed. "It's just as I said before. I never used this stretched out thing for anything. I didn't even _know _you could use it for attacking or whatever..."

Aras scoffed, or made a sound similar to it. "You dummy. Haven't you seen the other smoggy, tentacle-like dudes catch their meal by their only weapon?" I gave him a stumped look, the hell was he talking about?

Noticing my confusion, Aras shook his head and rummaged behind the register counter. "Forget it, I'll show and tell it to you later…when some walking snack comes around our way."

I 'pffted', blowing a strand out of my eyesight in the process. I was glad to be with someone who wouldn't shoot or tear off my flesh in this apocalyptic world. I was even more glad that it was Aras.

No dear reader, I feel nothing that involves hormonal/sexual tensions for him. He's the brother I never had, always there when in need of help or support, even if I needed a personal punching bag.

Yes, he was the heart throb from where we lived but he never was my type of guy.

Onto important things…

"Oi," Aras called, causing me to turn my head to his direction. He tossed something to me, I reacted with flailing arms and tongues, instinctively catching hold of whatever it was. I looked down to my tumor pulsing hand, seeing a bag of Skittles crinkle by my fingers hold.

"I highly doubt we'll find something that's still sealed and good like that later, best hold onto it," Aras stated, still rummaging through whatever was left behind the counter. I stuffed the noisy skittle bag into my vest pocket, despite the urge to rip the plastic open and devour the tasty candy.

I shuffled down the empty aisles, was anything left for scavenging? I lowered my head to see the shelves below hold what its neighbors had, nothing. I sighed, going down the last aisle that was littered with empty chip bags and crushed plastic cups. I widened my eyes to what I saw lying on its side on the second to last shelf. Two unopened cans of ravioli lay on their side next to its empty fellow cans.

"Aras!" I called, seeing his hooded head pop up from behind the counter. I raised one of the two cans above my head for him to see, a devilish grin spread across his grey lips. "Nice find," he commented, taking a seat next to me as I sat against the glass covered refrigerators at the back wall of the store.

I scowled at the lid of the can, finding it difficult to catch the opening of the can opener attached to the top. I sighed a huffy fit, handing it over to Aras who inspected the can before coming to his own conclusion. His snarled as he bit the top of the can, making me jump for a split second as he growled and some-what hissed, trying to force the can open by other means.

The lid snapped opened, thanks to one of Aras' teeth hooking itself to the opening of metal. I could feel the silent rumble in my stomach when seeing the ravioli sauce drip onto the sloppy mess of food it was sealed in. Aras fished into the can, growling a bit when the ravioli slipped from his fingertips the first two times. He finally caught a hold of two as he hungrily stuffed them into his mouth, slurping and chewing noisily.

I grinned at the mess he already made of his chin, grabbing the cool can and picking out my share of the ravioli as he licked his fingers clean. With the same difficulty, we managed to open the second can after we both finished the first one, we happily snacked on the slimy and meaty pasta till there was not a speck left.

Aras slurped his tounge inside the can, making sure that it literally be cleaned out. "I'm pretty sure that won't hold us for long…" I mumbled, still feeling slightly hungry as I rubbed my stomach. Wiping his chin and savoring the last of the ravioli sauce, Aras chucked the can in a random direction of the store, hearing it clatter nosily till it became silent again.

"I'm sure we can scrounge some stuff during our search, just gotta look hard…" He stretched, resting his hands behind his head before becoming quiet again. I wheezed, coughing a bit till I joined his silence.

Man, this Infection thing sucked, I could hardly keep quiet. My breathing and wheezing seemed deafening at the moment.

I stole a glance at Aras, his head tilted down, he looked like he was dozing off.

What exactly made us like this?

Why did I grow tumors all over my body and become a walking chimney while Aras just got the ability to fly and scream like an animal?

Though, I'm pretty sure he could scream like that in a previous life.

Before I could rest my head on the cool glass behind us, Aras snapped his head up and instantly growled. I coughed while raising an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" Aras quickly brought up a hand, telling me to keep quiet as he bent down on all fours. He crawled to the edge of the aisle, poking his head out to the side before quickly drawing himself back.

Before I could question him again, a shot rang through my ears. I froze up and didn't breathe for a minute, stupid reflex. Aras locked sight with mine, mentally thanking me for not screaming in response. He sunk lower on his hands and feet, silencing his growls to hear the trespassers.

"Search the station, might be something we need." I flinched and quickly covered my ears when hearing another blast ring through the air. A painful sound was released from whatever the gun shooters shot, probably one of those stumbling zombies that were at the entrance.

If not for the hoodie, I was pretty sure I'd see the hair rise on the back of Aras' neck. He leaned his head against the aisle, listening before setting out a ceratin number of fingers across the tile. I quickly glanced at his hand, seeing him stick out three fingers.

Three, three gun shooters. Oh, god.

I began to mentally panic, I had no fighting skills to date and I was pretty sure Aras couldn't take on three goons with guns. I bit my extended tongue, holding in the urge to cough as their footsteps came in contact with our ears.

"Man this place reeks! Where the hell is that smell coming from?"

"Keep quiet, just look for supplies."

I opened my screwed-shut eyes to see Aras quietly creep down the aisle, quickly looking over his shoulder, motioning me to follow. I brought myself down to crawl like him, feeling sick as is when continuously holding my in coughs. Putting my life in Aras hands, I stopped, followed, and quickly scrambled across the tile floor in attempts to get out of the station safely by his call. We almost made it to the entrance, except one guy was guarding it, making sure nothing came in or out of the gas station without his approval.

Aras leaned back some, looking to be ready to attack, I braced myself for whatever Aras had in store. He ripped through the agonizing silence with his screech, pouncing onto the entrance survivor, quickly ripping fresh blood from the survivor's skin.

"Gabe! Go!" he screamed, tearing his razor-like teeth into the soft flesh of the screaming survivor's neck. I yelped as I ran past the gory death scene, just missing the shotgun blast that was aimed for my head. "Hunter's on Dave!" one of the two surviors shouted, ready to blast Aras' head off when he came in range.

"No!" I hollored, quickly turning my figure back to the survivors and Aras. I didn't know how, but my tongue quickly shot out, instantly wrapping itself around Aras' waist to tug him off his kill as the survivor's shot was missed. Sadly, I tugged Aras' body to hard to my lanky form. He smacked into me causing the moth of us to topple over.

We both tried to get up and book it before one of us ended up dead on the pavement, but my tongue was tangled all around our bodies making it difficult to stand up alone.

I stared at the survivors with a deer-in-headlights expression, seeing one of them try to quickly heal up their injured friend while the other one aimed his M-16 at our squirming figures.

I was about to scrunch my eyes shut, curl up in a fetal position and wait for the worst, but what happened next kept my eyes wide open.

The survivor who was about to spray us suddenly got tackled. Well, tackled wouldn't be the correct word, it was more like he got knocked down by long deadly talons. Inhuman claws that belonged to a frail looking girl. This girl seemed to appear out of nowhere, her deathly pale form shrieked in anger at the breathing survivors, his sharp nails hacking up the first one she came across.

Screams and blood rose in the air, her Panic! At The Disco shirt became more blood stained than it already had, she turned her attention to the other two who seemed frozen in fear. The way she attacked and murdered the remaining two seemed like a blood lusting bliss.

Once the gun shooters were dead, she breathed heavily. Blood was caked on her hands and limbs, her torn black shorts left her exposing legs to be specked with her victims blood. She released a couple deep breaths before turning to us, a glow in her eyes faded when locking sight.

I stared dumbfounded, amazed and not believing our luck of being alive. Unless she decided to attack us, of course…

A heavy silence hung between us three for a few minutes, she had a confused look in her eyes, like she didn't know what had occurred minutes ago. Aras finally cut in, still tangled by my grayish-pink tongue wrapped around his figure.

"That…WAS AWESOME!

* * *

><p>Woot, got to meet one of the requested Infected! :) Those survivor's deaths were fun to write strangely...<p>

Jordan (gal murderer) belongs to her rightful owner, _Magic Toaster_.

Next chapter should be coming up pretty soon, with another Infected guest on the way.

**:OC REQUESTS ARE STILL OPEN:**

**Review?**


	7. Beyond Happiness

His vocals rumbled tenderly against his throat, he was perched on the corner of a billboard whose lights had died long ago. He was keeping watch on his prey, a stupid survivor who thought it was smart to travel through the city alone.

But maybe, it wasn't stupid after all. Maybe it had friends hiding from the Infected eyes so when the lone survivor got attacked, they'd be saved instantly when its companions sprayed the Infected down.

The Hunter scoffed to himself, he highly doubt such a plan was set up, he's seen too many survivors, few and a crowd, that was devoured to death due to poor teamwork. He decided to prove his point with this walking snack.

He crouched lower, physically gathering his energy, in a split second he descended down to the oblivious survivor. Like his previous prey, it caught on his attack too late. It quickly twisted its body to the hostile Hunter, only getting two shots from its firearm before it crashed onto impact. The gun skid from the survivor's hands, the Hunter snarled at his prey's sweaty face before tearing the clothing and skin covering the survivor's insides. His prey squirmed, screamed bloody murder as it breathed its last seconds of life.

Soon enough, it became a torn up, lifeless piece of human beneath the Hunter. The predator smirked, content with his kill and the fact there was no trap set up for him. He satisfied his growling stomach as he devoured the parts of the body that weren't already shredded. Ripping a section of the human's intestines with his mouth and hands, the Hunter chewed thoughtfully as he swallowed his last bit, crawling away from the mess of a corpse on the street. There was nothing much left on the human anyway, and his stomach was already full.

Before he could take a big leap off the ground, his eyes caught the survivor's gun. He picked up the firearm to inspect it, a surprising sight to see since the Hunter unloaded the clip to see how many bullets remained in the hand gun. The Hunter nodded to himself, stuffing the handgun in his pocket before soaring through the air again.

Unlike the majority of Hunters or Specials alike, this Hunter knew how to use firearms. It was a rare case, only a small handful of Specials recall how to operate such a machine let alone open doors.

Back to reality, the blood stained Hunter made his way back to his shelter. It wasn't like a house or anything, it was an abandoned apartment on top of a looted and abandoned dollar store. Thanks to the remaining items held in the store, it helped the Hunter make a luxury shelter that didn't look half as bad as the other households the small town held.

He climbed through the one of the broken windows when his home came into sight. He picked the handgun from his pocket to place it on a scratched and scarred desk sitting against one of the walls in the room. The firearm sat next to the other three guns the Hunter decided to gather from his past victims, you never know when your brute Infected strength might not be enough.

The Hunter collapsed on his makeshift bed, torn blankets and damaged pillows littered his resting spot as he nuzzled into the musty comfort. He was about to doze off when something caught his senses. He looked up, not liking the smell of this.

Crawling silently as he could, the Hunter made his way one of the windows, observing the outside to see what was out of place. He found it, something ran into the grocery store below. He growled angrily, was it human? He was about to find out.

/]/]/]

Sure, great idea. Let the weak link of the trio go out and gather food and what not for the group. Austin groaned to himself as he entered the mini grocery store in front of him, still mumbling cusses to Liz and Katie who talked him into going out alone. Sure, he _was_ the only one who knew the layout of this town, but that didn't mean he should go scavenge for the group _alone_.

Avoiding some groaning Commons as he slipped by, Austin searching high and low for anything edible or sorts of comfort when the group decided to snooze in. Thinking about it more, Austin kind of understood why Liz had to stick with Katie till he returned.

Ever since they found her, she continuously cried and couldn't bare to be alone. Hell, she seemed even more fragile than before. This worried Austin, wondering what would happen if something ugly were to happen causing them to be split apart again, would Katie be able to handle herself? Shaking his head and focusing on on his search, Austin went back to his goal findings and picked anything that was worthwhile into the bag he found and carried for supplies.

He found a couple of canned drinks and a few food items. He didn't complain, he was lucky enough to find anything in this looted store. He just wished there was some meat products left. "Oh wow, jackpot…" he mumbled, finding a bag of Hershey's Chocolate bars in a corpse's backpack lying next to it. "I'm sure they'll enjoy this…" the Jockey said to himself, stuffing the chocolate into the bag without another thought.

He was about to search the store one more time but a growl caught his ears. He felt a prickle up his spine, the Jockey turned around to see a Hunter crouched on all fours, teeth dripping with saliva and blood. The two remained still for a few seconds, despite the constant twitching Austin couldn't control. He switched his gaze to the exit and the Hunter, unsure if he could make it out without a few scars and bite wounds to prove it.

Okay, settle down Austin. Maybe you can talk your way out? The Jockey mentally smacked himself, he really should've looked harder before he decided to scavenge in a Hunter's territory. Though, he really wasn't at fault, it's not like there was a sign saying "KEEP OUT" or anything like that.

Deciding to break the ice, Austin nervously chuckled at the predator, "Hi?"

The Hunter screamed in response, lunging itself at Austin with claws ready to kill. The Jockey shrieked, dodging the attack and immediately headed for the exit. Once he was outside the store, he hoped the Hunter would let him be without any blood lust in its desire. But no, the Hunter didn't let up. It pounced and chased the hunched over Infected like a cougar chasing its fleeing food.

"GEEZUS! I'M SORRY I B&E, MAN! OH GOD, LET ME LIIIIIIIIVE!" Austin screamed, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

/]/]/]

Liz hacked up another slime ball, spitting it as far as she could to a distant target from where she stood. It didn't make it, it plopped onto the dead grassy ground and split a large pool of acid around it. "Damn, my range really sucks…" she sighed, glaring at the distant car that was her supposed target. She turned back to the garage shack her and the others decided to sleep in for the night.

Inside there were a bunch of tools, some still hanging from their holders while others were scattered messily on the ground. There was a small area where blankets and worn down pillows laid, possibly for the family's pet to sleep on or something. Liz maneuvered over the sharp objects and toppled over tables and tool boxes to reach Katie, who sitting on the blanket and pillow bed weeping as usual.

The Spitter knelt down and patted her shoulder, making the Witch hiccup when looking up at Liz. "It's alright Katie, it'll be fine! Austin will be back shortly, you have nothing to cry about." Katie sniffled before turning her head back to the dusty blankets beneath her, wiping her face with her red stained hands before softly crying. Liz sighed, trying not to sound irritated the least bit. She loved Katie, as much as a friend could, but her crying wasn't helping anything at all. Even when questioned, the sad Witch couldn't let up with the tears, it was like that was the only thing she _could_ do.

After what Katie had told Liz and Austin what she had to her parents, Liz couldn't blame her for crying at all. But for so long? There was a limit to the tear shed in Liz's book. The Spitter ruffled the Witch's hair, causing the paler to whine cutely before Liz rose from her crouch. A distant scream caught the two's attention, causing the both of them to exit the garage and see what caused that noise.

Soon enough, a sprinting Jockey came into sight. He screamed as he jumped to the side, dodging a deadly swipe of talons belonging to a stranger Hunter. It could be read by its body actions that all it was thinking was ".**KILL**."

"Liz! Katie! HELP MEEEE!" Austin hollered, jumping on top of a bus waiting shed, successfully dodging another blow from the pissed off Hunter. "Katie, stay here!" Liz ordered, receiving a quick nod from the Witch as Liz tried her best to not wobble as she ran towards the two. "BACK OFF ASSHOLE!" she yelled, gathering up all the strength she had to ram a punch into the Hunter's jaw.

The Hunter was caught off guard, too focused on the Jockey to realize the Spitter's attack. He snarled viciously at the Spitter, attempting to hack her innards out instantly. Liz yelped as she dodged his attacks, finding the opportunity to spit an acid chunk at the Hunter, hitting him directly on the collar bone. The Hunter was drenched in the Spitter's acid, sadly not showing any signs of pain but more fury in his snarls.

Liz stared dumbfounded at the unaffected Hunter, if she still had a jaw it'd drop to the ground in complete shock. Her acid had no affect on zombies! She was too late to react when the Hunter pounced onto her, his teeth instantly sinking into her shoulder making blood spew across his fangs. Liz shrieked in pain, kicking and squirming to pry the Hunter off.

Before the Hunter could bring his claws up for slaughter, Austin jumped onto his back and wrenched him off the Spitter. Liz hissed and held her fresh wound as she brought herself up to her feet, seeing Austin ride the very pissed off Hunter. The angry Infected managed to grab hold of Austin, ripping him off his back as he twisted the Jockey's arm in an unpleasant way in the process.

Austin wailed, crashing down onto the sidewalk, he held his hurt arm as he recovered. The Hunter looked to pounce again, but his actions were cut off by a nails-on-chalkboard scream. He turned to the owner of the sound, dodging a deadly attack from Katie as her nails impaled the street when the Hunter dodged. He landed a few yards away, keeping his position still as the Witch furiously growled and raised her talons, ready for a kill.

Liz looked wide eyed at the Witch, surprised that Katie had the will to go against a Hunter of all Infected. Well, there was also those bulky Infected called Tanks the three came across once, but they all knew it'd be best to run than rather fight those steroid gorillas.

"Why are you doing this! What have we done to you, you big fat jerk!" Katie wailed, brows furrowed together as she stretched and clicked her sharp nails together, ready for an attack to play. If not for their wounds throbbing in pain, the Spitter and Jockey would've chuckled at the Witch's 'insult'.

The Hunter flared his nostrils as he slightly eased his stance, knowing well a fight with a Witch would be his last one. "That ugly hunched bastard stepped into my territory. I'm just giving him the lesson he deserves to even _think_ about repeating the action."

Katie almost hissed at the Hunter, not feeling the anger boiling in her chest ease down, "Well did you have sign or something saying so? You're trying to kill him, not punish!"

Katie lost herself for an instant when she charged at the Hunter, trying to impale his body with her nails. The Hunter dodged, landing on the waiting shed a few yards off, "Hot tempered, aren't ya? Listen babe, ugly shits like your friends there don't exactly register my warnings often. I'm surprised you're even friends with that long necked bitch and head humper."

The Witch screamed in fury, "You shut it! What gives you the right to judge other Infected by their looks! What right do you have to act like they're a lower class than you!" She was caught off guard when the Hunter pounced onto her, taking the opportunity to hold the dangerous girl down by his will. "You got a big mouth, it'd be a shame to see it torn off by my hand. But if you want me to apologize to your so-called friends, fine." The Hunter removed himself off the Witch, taking a leap to land in front of the Jockey who yelped at the sudden approach.

"So sorry I tried to kill you, man. Just stay off my turf when you decide to scavenge." His sarcasm was sickening. The Hunter turned to the dirty blonde Spitter, who was keeping an uneasy look stuck on her face when locking sight with the Hunter. "And lady, stay out of a fight that isn't yours. I won't be sorry next time you decide to butt in." The Hunter crawled away from the two Infected, turning his head to the Witch who regained her posture, "Happy now?"

Katie pouted, hating it when someone faked an apology. "Not really." The Hunter shook his head, looking to take off. "Wait!" Liz called out, causing the Hunter to turn to her.

"Have….have you seen our friends? One's got a hoodie with Medusa eyes on the hood, has duct taped limbs like you. Other is wearing a winter vest, a Gir shirt underneath it? Short brown hair, tall?" The Spitter questioned.

The Hunter dropped his gaze to the ground, looking to be thinking for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, can't recall anyone like that I've killed or seen before. But if you give that much of damn and want to continue bugging me. I'll give you a shout if I come across your friends."

Katie walked a little closer to the Hunter, seeing him wipe the semi-dried blood on his camouflage sweater, "Th…Thank you…my name's Katie, that's Liz and Austin," the Witch softly spoke, gesturing her talons to the two Infected to the side.

The Hunter glanced at the two before looking back at the Witch, "Joshua," he replied. Katie forced a smile nodding a bit before speaking, "Should we…um, visit you if we want to know-"

Her sentence got caught off by the Hunter.

"_I'll_ come to _you_ if I have anything to tell about your friends, Witch. The last thing I need is other Infected poking around on my territory thinking that it'll end smoothly." Joshua crawled away from the trio, ready to take off again.

"But we might not stick around here for long, we'll probably be continuously moving," Austin shouted, making Joshua twitch in annoyance before replying, "I have a keen sense of smell, dumbass. I'm pretty sure I can pick out your revolting smell from the other brainless fucks around here."

With that, the Hunter leapt away, pouncing against a few building walls till he disappeared from sight.

"He must have been a thrill to have in class," Liz scowled, narrowing her eyes to where the Hunter was last seen. "I'm sure he's nice, we just got on the wrong foot…" Katie insisted, walking over to the Spitter and Jockey. "Wrong foot my ass! The dude tried to kill me!" Austin shouted, tenderly gripping his arm that started to hurt less.

Katie shrugged, bending down to the hurt Jockey while Liz tore a piece of his shirt off to wrap it around her hurt shoulder. "Let's forget about that, Austin. Does it still hurt? What did you find during your scavenge?"

* * *

><p><strong>:IMPORTANT:<strong>

Yaaaay, 2nd guest infected checked :D Poor Austin and Liz...

But, a note I should make to you dear reader. If you have requested a character, please note on how I will work with them. If they're mentioned for a short bit in the chapter, chances are **they will show up **in future chapters** again**. If they get a big chunk of a chapter to themselves, they'll most likely **not reappear** in chapters gone by. Unless you request that they are mentioned every now and then for later chapters, I will add them and fairly give them some screentime. If not noted, they might only appear once or twice in the entire story.

/info

**:OCs are still open:**

**Review?**


	8. Just Love To Speak

"No fricken way, you play video games TOO!?"

Gabe's eyes were wide and glossy looking as she sat in front of the Clawer, the Infected that saved Aras and her from those survivors hours before. After an ease of tension, the long nailed, witch-type girl turned out to be a sweet, shy Infected. The Hunter and Smoker introduced themselves to the rare case of Infected, one that Aras hadn't come across his search at all. From what the girl-Jordan as she called herself-said, she's basically just a nail shredding Infected. Almost like a sister Infected from the Witch, sans the crying.

The two girls continued to chat in a geeky manner, leaving Aras to just roll his eyes and feast on the mutilated corpses. He'd expect him to feel sick, nastified at the fact he was eating human. Well, what else were you going to do when your stomach was eating itself? Plus, that one Hunter he met _said_ he should find a survivor to snack on. Aras pulled the meat off the survivor's neck with a sick rip, chewing thoughtfully and swallowing the raw meat, surprised that it didn't taste half as bad.

He turned his attention to the two girl Infected, both still talking about movies and video games similar to typical girls who'd chat about hair and makeup.

"So, where you from?" Gabe asked politely, one of the tentacle tongues behind her neck itched a section behind her ear. Jordan looked up above the two, a pondering expression on the girl's face.

"Hmm…Canada. Yes, I remember now, I came from Canada." The Clawer softly smiled, pleased with remembering something that easily slipped off her mind more than once. Gabe nodded, satisfied with the answer since a Canadian accent wasn't very common down here in the south.

"What about you two? You seem out-of-place yourselves…" Jordan commented, nudging her head to Aras who was busy snacking on the corpses of survivors.

Gabe glanced at Aras before turning back to Jordan, "We actually came down here to get back a friend. He wasn't doing too well where he was staying before so he moved down here to get away from his problem." Gabe made a painful smile, not liking the words that were about to come out of her mouth, "But…it didn't turn out any better. His problem just came to bite him back in the ass and he was pretty much stuck here. So, we got fed up with how it was treating him, got a vehicle big enough to hold all seven of us to bring him back with us. I mean, we're all legal adults now."

The Smoker sighed, finding a more comfortable position to sit on the black top. "At least that _was _our plan, till this happened." She stretched out her arm, exposing her tumor covered arm that emitted smog from its pores as they pulsated.

Jordan nodded, staring a bit in awe with the Smoker's story filling the silence. "Sounds legit, did you manage to find him? Or…" The Clawer's words trailed off, worried that she might say something out-of-place.

Gabe blinked her eye before small smiling and shaking her head, "No, we're actually looking for them. We haven't had any luck these past hours, but we're not giving up. Two or three of us just isn't us."

Aras belched loudly, making Gabe look behind her, glaring at him. Jordan just snickered, covering her smile with her talon stretched hand. "But if you're from Canada, why'd you come here? Family? Just strolling by?" the Smoker questioned, giving the Clawer a small smile before repositioning her sitting again.

Jordan grew quiet, her eyes growing wide in thought, she trailed a talon against a miscellaneous crack on the parking lot they sat on. She bit her lip, her mind and memories too fuzzy or confusing to place them in order or even make out were illegible. "I..." she started, looking up at the Smoker and the Hunter who was still busy chowing down.

She blushed, embarrassed as she felt like a dummy for an instant. "I don't exactly remember. There was a screen...like a window that showed many pictures. But the pictures didn't stop, they just followed one after the other as if they has no one else to look up to. But then..." Jordan's eyes shifted, they looked scared. An image torn through her mind.

A concession stand.

A hunched over person.

Teeth.

Blood.

"...rdan?...JORDAN!"

The Clawer blinked, her vision refocusing itself to see Gabe with a worried expression on her face. The Smoker's hand was clasped on Jordan's wrist, trying to pry it from the black top. The Clawer looked down, seeing her nails being painfully dug into the hard surface leaving the sharp-nailed fingers to bleed. She withdrew her hand, wiping and softly rubbing her hand free from the pain and blood.

"S-Sorry, something came over me..." she mumbled, still looking a bit troubled by what she partially saw in her mind.

"It's common for not remembering what you were before this 'change'," Aras spoke, spooking the girls for a minute. They almost forgot he was there. The Hunter crawled to where they both sat, plopping a bloody chunk of an arm on to Gabe's lap. The Smoker concealed her urge to screech at the gory limb, instead she shot a glare at Aras. He ignored her, offering a thigh bit to the Clawer.

Jordan smiled, but shook her head, pushing the meat lightly away from her in the process. Aras shrugged, cramming the raw piece in his mouth rather grossly. Gabe grabbed the piece of human by its end with two fingers, plopping it next to her and attempting to wipe the blood off her jeans.

Aras burped again before he continued, "Many of the Infected I ran into, before I found this moron," he jabbed a thumb in Gabe's direction, she glared in return. "Don't have the slightest idea or care for what they were before. It's like the change everyone has undergone erased what existence we had before, now only giving us the urge to hunt, so to speak."

"Surviving is what I hope you meant to say..." The Smoker mumbled, a troubled look glued itself to her face as she hung her head low. Aras blinked to his friend, shaking his head as resuming, "The point is, Jordan, don't be all bummed if you can't remember something or you can't bring yourself to _wanting_ to remember it. No one's telling you to, more importantly no one's forcing you to do anything. It's the apocalypse for Pete's sake! What authority figure is really going to trudge down here and demand something of someone without being eaten?"

Jordan lightly laughed at Aras, feeling a little better.

Gabe rolled her eyes, whacking Aras behind the head making him face-plant the black top. "Even if there's no police porker to bark laws at Infected, who's to say Survivors will oblige to said porker." Jordan and Aras were quiet, the Clawer looking back at the bloody mess of people she tore up moments ago.

"These people are on the fritz, survival meaning more than anything to them at this moment. They'll do anything to get their way, shooting Infected and humans alike. There might be no real law existing at this moment, but that doesn't mean you can just go prancing into a survivor camp like a walk-in buffet."

Aras removed his face from the ground, brushing off pebbles sticking to his face. "I didn't say act stupidly, Gabe. I just meant it's literally a do-as-you-want world, no listening-to-anyone kind of thing."

The Smoker sighed, rising from her seat. "Anyway, we really should get moving. If those guys came crossing our paths, who's to say there's more wherever they came from?"

The Hunter stretched, yawning as he did so. He scratched his chin before looking at Jordan, she tilted her head in response. "You...Do you have anywhere to go?" Aras asked, rubbing the back of his sweaty neck. Jordan shook her head, shrugging in as she replied, "Not really, I just kinda wander and go as I please." She kept a blissfully, happy expression visible, but the more she thought about how unsafe it was—even if she had deadly claws with a one-hit KO attack—she grew more troubled on the inside. The Smoker and Hunter exchanged looks before returning their eyes to the Clawer.

Gabe smiled, offering a hand as she said "Would you like to come with us?"

Jordan flushed, immediately standing up and shook her long nailed hands frantically, "Oh no, no! I don't want to be a burden! Plus I-I might get in the way or worse!" Aras laughed aloud, making Jordan blush harder. "You'd get in the way? Jordan, you pummeled those asshats back there! You'd be a great help if we ever need a deadly combo attack on some survivors that come in our way."

The Clawer relaxed some, her cheeks still glowing red. "I just..."

The Smoker smiled, "It's not like you're inviting yourself and being rude. It'd be much safer to go in a group than alone." Jordan entwined her claws, mumbling gibberish to herself as she looked at her hands with great interest.

Aras turned his head to the sky, seeing how late it was. "Well, if you're content going your own way, no hard feelings. But the offer is still open."

With that he crawled away, Gabe shot him a confused, angry look but Aras shrugged it off, gesturing the Smoker to follow him. Gabe looked back at Jordan, then to her Hunter friend who was already creating a greater distance between the two. She sighed, offered Jordan a polite nod and smile before jogging to Aras.

For a minute Jordan stood there, contemplating what to do. She was alright by herself since she changed—even if she couldn't remember how long she's been on her own since then—but the more she thought about it, it did get lonely and she was afraid.

Those survivors were nothing but Gabe did make a point, there was always more. More with massive numbers in groups and bigger guns no doubt.

The Clawer bit her lip, stared at the ground before looking at the two Infected ahead. She took a deep breath before running after them, "Hey guys, wait!"

* * *

><p>. . .<p>

Hi :D

Well, how to put this without having the Author's Note not be seven paragraphs long. Hm, well to put it bluntly; I'M NOT DEAD!

I'm very sorry for leaving you guys hanging for a long, long time and I have a semi good reason for it but it's not too important. :3

Let's just say life sucks and leave it at that.

I've been itching to get this chapter done since God-knows-how-long. Mostly because it featured a pretty awesome Infected OC that wasn't vague and had an interesting background :D

If it's all alright Jordan's owner, I might have her stay a bit in the story...if that's ok with you!

Welp off with life, hopefully I can get more time of freedom and get some damn work done!


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